About the Book
Title: The Women
Author: Kristin Hannah
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 471
Edition Read: Library eBook
Dates Read: May 25 – 31, 2025
Blurb: Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.
Review
This is the first Kristin Hannah book that I’ve read, despite seeing her name EVERYWHERE. I don’t read very much historical fiction and that’s a shame, because every time I do, I really appreciate it. I always learn something, and this time was no exception.
This book won the GoodReads Award for Best Historical Fiction last year and I can definitely see why. Kristin Hannah does a lot of research for her books. She also is just an amazing writer. You could feel this book, from the way bombs shook the ground to the shouts and chaos in the field hospitals. Everything was vivid and visceral. As it should be. The Vietnam War was absolutely horrific and to show it otherwise would be doing a tremendous disservice to everyone who served there.
Frankie. Oh, how I love Frankie. She is an amazing character. Thrown into the action right away with very little warning – there is an attack right after she arrives at the base and the hospital is immediately overrun with soldiers who are mortally wounded. Imagine seeing that much blood and death on your first day of work and still having the fortitude to keep going. Frankie is tougher than she thinks though and eventually proves to be incredibly skilled at what she does, saving the lives of the ones she could and offering comfort to the ones who she couldn’t.
What was more heartbreaking than reading about her experiences in the war was reading about what happened after. It’s historical fact that soliders who came back from Vietnam were not treated well. Their service to their country was vilified and mocked. I knew this, as it’s pretty well-known, but reading it from Frankie’s perspective was a whole different experience. Being a woman, her service was discounted even more, despite the hard work she put in as a nurse very close to the front lines. She is turned away from the few resources that veterans had back then solely because that she, as “just a woman” couldn’t possibly have truly experienced anything in the war. Some of them don’t even believe that she was there at all. She struggles through severe PTSD on top of trying to fit back into a life that she no longer recognizes and a family who just wants her to move on even though she can’t.
I usually talk about how much I enjoy the books I read, but this was not a book to enjoy. This was a book to bear witness to the sacrifices of the people, men and women, who serve in the armed forces and to honor them. This is a book that I don’t think I would have picked up on my own, but I’m so glad that my reading challenge brought it into my orbit. It’s a story that will stick with me for a long time.
GoodReads rating: 5 stars
Categories: Books I've Read
Life With No Plot 
I can’t believe I stumbled across this review, I finished this a couple of weeks ago and it was also my first book by Kristin Hannah. I know exactly what you mean at the end of your review. I want to say I enjoyed it, but the subject matter was so serious and emotional that enjoy doesn’t seem to be quite the right word. I appreciated the insights it gave me into the experiences of a group of people who served in war but were left to their own trauma when they were no longer needed by their own country. It was heartbreaking watching Frankie trying to regain her sense of self and safety upon her return. I might come back and share with you the link to my review when I have written it. I am very keen to read The Nightingale next.
I would love to read your review! And I will definitely read more of her work. She’s an amazing writer.